U.S. Men Drop Final World Cup Match to Serbia

COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. (Dec. 4, 2011) – The U.S. Men’s National Volleyball Team ended its 15-day, 11 match 2011 FIVB World Cup campaign with a loss to Serbia, 25-23, 25-17, 25-19 on Sunday in Tokyo.

The U.S. Men, ranked fourth in the world, finished the World Cup in sixth place with a 6-5 record. Serbia (5-6), ranked fifth in the world, finishes eighth.

Russia won the World Cup with its 3-2 win Sunday over Poland, which finished second. Both teams have qualified for the 2012 Olympic Games despite needing FIVB wild cards to qualify for the World Cup. Brazil clinched third place and the final qualifying slot with a sweep of host Japan on Sunday.

The United States' next opportunity to qualify for the 2012 Olympic Games will be at the NORCECA Continental Qualifier in May of 2012.

Serbia, which qualified for the World Cup as the European zone champion, led the U.S. in kills 41-35, in blocks 11-7 and in aces 5-3. The U.S. was also hurt by 18 team errors while Serbia committed 14.

“We gained a lot of information in this tournament on ourselves,” Knipe said. “One of the two important goals for us — besides qualification — was to figure out exactly what our strength and weaknesses are and what to work on to qualify for the Olympics.

“Today is not how we wanted to end our tournament, but Serbia played well, (Ivan) Miljkovic particularly, he pressured us a lot.”

Serbia’s Ivan Miljkovic dominated the match and was named the Most Impressive Player, leading all scorers with 20 points on 18 attacks and two blocks.

The first set was close with the U.S. trailing by just one at 22-21 when Serbia reached set point on a kill and U.S. service error. The U.S. scored twice on Serbia’s error and an attack from outside hitter Matt Anderson (West Seneca, N.Y.). Miljkovic won the set with a kill. The U.S. led the second set 8-6. Serbia tied it at 8-8. The score was still tied at 11-11 when Serbia used two straight kills and an ace to gain the lead and it went on to win. Serbia was given a yellow card to open the third set and the U.S. took a 5-1 lead. Serbia came back to lead 8-7 and extended it to 13-9 before surging to the win.

Outside hitter Sean Rooney (Wheaton, Ill.) led the U.S. on Sunday with 10 points on 10 kills (55.6 kill percent; .444 hitting efficiency). Middle blocker David Lee (Alpine, Calif.) added nine points on six attacks (66.7 kill percent; .444 hitting efficiency) and three blocks. Opposite Evan Patak (Pleasanton, Calif.) totaled six points on five kills and one block while Anderson scored six points on six attacks.

Outside hitter Reid Priddy (Richmond, Va.) scored five points on three attacks, one block and one ace. Outside hitter Paul Lotman (Lakewood, Calif.) totaled three points on three attacks while middle blocker Russell Holmes (Fountain Valley, Calif.) added three points on two kills and one block.

Middle blocker Max Holt (Cincinnati, Calif.) scored one point on a block.

U.S. setter Brian Thornton (San Clemente, Calif.) was credited with 23 assists. He set the team to a 43.8 kill percent and a .213 hitting percentage.

Libero Riley Salmon (League City, Texas) led the team in digs with eight and in excellent receptions with 10.

Knipe started Anderson and Rooney at outside hitter, Lee and Holmes at middle blocker, Thornton at setter, Patak at opposite and Salmon at libero.

Lotman and Priddy played as substitutes and started the third set at outside hitter. Holt started the third set at middle blocker for Holmes.

Priddy, the acting U.S. team captain in Stanley’s absence, acknowledged the U.S. fans after the match.

“First, I want to publicly acknowledge our U.S. Armed Forces here in Japan, the Air Force in particular – you’ll notice the shirt I’m wearing. We’re very proud for their service and proud to play in front of them,” he said. “Tonight was pretty disappointing but Serbia played well.”

The U.S. lost to Serbia earlier this season at the London International Invitational and also fell to the Europeans in the final round of the 2009 World League Final Round. The U.S. is now 10-13 against Serbia (previously Serbia and Montenegro) since 1981.

“Well although it was the last game I’m proud of my guys tonight, and I’m glad no one got injured during this tournament,” Miljkovic said. “It’s always inspiring to play the USA we tried our best and I think we did well serving tonight.”

The teams traded points to open the first set, with Serbia taking an 8-7 lead at the first technical timeout (TTO) thanks to a kill by Miljkovic. The U.S. got two kills each from Anderson and Patak. Lee scored after the break to tie the score at 8-8. Serbia used a kill and block to increase its lead to two at 10-8. The U.S. came back and used a Serbian serving error; Patak block and Rooney kill to lead 12-11. Serbia responded with two straight kills to regain the lead 13-12. Patak tied it with a kill, but Serbia scored twice more with a kill and block and led 16-14 at the second TTO. Serbia increased its lead to 22-19. The U.S. came back to score on a Rooney kill and Serbia net violation. Serbia reached set point at 24-21 on a kill and U.S. service error. The U.S. scored twice on Serbia’s error and an Anderson attack. But Miljkovic won the set with a kill. Miljkovic scored eight points in the set. Patak led the U.S. with five.

The U.S. took a 4-2 lead to open the second set, getting two kills from Lee, a block from Patak and a Serbia error. Serbia tied the score at 6-6, but the U.S. scored on Serbia’s service error and an Anderson kill to lead 8-6 at the first TTO. Miljkovic came back with a block and kill to tie the score. The score was still tied at 11-11 when Serbia used two straight kills and an ace to lead 14-11. Knipe called timeout, but Serbia came back with a block. Serbia’s run ended with a serving error, but a U.S. serving error gave the Europeans a 16-12 lead at the second TTO. Serbia used two straight kills to increase its lead to five at 19-14 and the U.S. called timeout. Serbia responded with its third ace of the set and rolled to the set victory, 25-17. Serbia led in attacks 14-9, in blocks 3-1, in aces 3-0 and in digs 6-2.

Serbia was given a yellow card to open the third set and the U.S. surged to a 4-0 lead behind Patak’s serve, scoring on a Lee kill and block along with Serbia’s error. Serbia called timeout and the next U.S. serve went long. With the U.S. leading 5-1, Serbia used two kills and two aces to tie the score. Serbia’s next serve went long and Holt used a block to give the U.S. a 7-5 lead. But Serbia used a kill and two blocks to lead 8-7 at the first TTO. With Serbia leading 10-9, it used a kill, a U.S. violation and a kill of an overpass to lead 13-9 and Knipe called timeout. Patak responded with a kill, but two straight U.S. errors put Serbia ahead 15-10 and the Europeans led 16-11 at the second TTO. Trailing 17-12, the U.S. got two straight points off a Lee block and Priddy kill, but Serbia quickly ended the run with a kill and extended its lead to six at 20-14. Knipe called timeout and the U.S. responded with a Priddy kill, Holt block and Thornton ace to pull to within three at 20-17 and Serbia called timeout. Miljkovic responded with a kill. The U.S. came back with a Rooney back-row attack and Priddy ace to pull to within two at 21-19. But Serbia scored with a kill and went on to score the next three points to win the set and match.